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Center for Local Governments: Connecting, Collaborating and Creating Solutions

The Center for Local Governments has been formally in existence since 1988, and is
now housed within the Department of Political Science. Our motto is “connecting, collaborating,
and creating solutions” for local governments in Kentucky.

The goals of the Center are:

1) to provide a mutually beneficial relationship of applied research and practical
assistance to meet the needs of local governments with the expertise of WKU faculty;

2) to provide an opportunity for students to gain experience from working directly
with local public officials;

3) to provide for better mutual understanding of the needs of both the University
and local governments through collaborative efforts toward the pursuit of efficiency
in service provision to citizens.

Benefits of partnering between the Center and local governments include:

1) a first point of contact to coordinate local governments and university resources;

2) practical research opportunities for WKU faculty in a variety of disciplines;

3) expert assistance for community leaders with activities including training and
development, strategic planning, grantwriting assistance, and analyses;

4) network for the provision of qualified students from a variety of academic disciplines
to assist city/county governments through internships.

The outreach activities are important because they provide the opportunity to:

1) increase visibility of the University, the department, the MPA program, and the
Center for Local Governments;

2) give students exposure to the political process and to working on practical/applied
research projects, which also makes them more marketable for internships and employment
by these same organizations;

3) keep a finger on the pulse of what is really going on in local government, which
serves to enrich applied research agendas of faculty and inform faculty teaching;

4) most importantly, serve the constituents—the citizens of Kentucky—and contribute
to the growth and economic development of Kentucky.

The plan for the Center for Local Governments includes the following activities that are in
line with the aforementioned goals:

Identify, initiate and deliver professional development training and workshop opportunities
of interest to our regional partners and schedule and organize these sessions. These
might include:

Facilitate democratic process and promote civic engagement and citizen participation
in local government. Connect citizens to their governments and encourage diverse stakeholders
to voice their concerns.

Identify and advise on community issues—help local governments to find ways to take
action or advocate for informed policy choices to resolve issues. Help communities
to leverage resources to address community issues. Through better communication and
better trust, explore shared service opportunities.

Identify multiple constituencies who have differing understandings of community and
regional issues. Garner political support to encourage collaboration rather than competition
among local governments and nonprofits. Establish a forum for collaboration and intergovernmental
cooperation that leads to regional problem solving.

Dr. Victoria Gordon is a professor in the Political Science Department and serves
as director of the MPA program and the Center for Local Governments at Western Kentucky
University. Dr. Gordon received her Doctor of Public Administration degree in 2004
from the University of Illinois- Springfield. Her research interests include regional
economic development and human resource management.